


Gentle as Snow

by AceTrainerHope



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, The Borrowers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Borrowers Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, G/T, M/M, One Shot, Snow Day, author doesn’t know how to write lovey-dovey stuff but will certainly try, borrower!Lyon, one(1) soft smooch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 23:05:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17068901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceTrainerHope/pseuds/AceTrainerHope
Summary: Your first time playing out in the snow is always a magical experience.For Lyon, that's not the only magical part about it, though.





	Gentle as Snow

“It’s not too cold for you, is it?”

 

“N-No. I’m fine, Ephraim.”

 

He couldn’t help but grin a little at the smaller boy’s determination, knowing right away that Lyon’s stutter wasn’t solely caused by his usual speaking habits this time around.

 

“Alright. Don’t be afraid to let me know, though, okay? Eirika won’t let me hear the end of it if anything goes wrong. Plus, we can make hot chocolate when we go back inside. Trust me, you’ll love it.”

 

“O-Okay.”

 

Truth be told, the little borrower was eternally grateful for the fact that he was in the chest pocket of Ephraim’s coat right now—wrapped up in not one, but two equally little blankets. Without those, and without the massive source of warmth that was practically surrounding him, there was no way he would’ve ever been able to brave this kind of weather.

 

Snow crunched softly beneath Ephraim’s boots as he stepped all the way out into the backyard, closing the sliding glass door behind him. The usual garden landscape was now covered in a thick blanket of white. At the moment, though, no snowflakes drifted down from the overcast sky.

 

“I-It… It’s so pretty…” Lyon murmured in awe, just barely loud enough for Ephraim to hear him. “Is it… Does it always look like this when it snows?”

 

Ephraim shrugged. “Not always. We don’t usually get this much, but there’ve been a few times where we’ve gotten even more.”

 

 _“Even more?”_ Lyon echoed in disbelief, eliciting a soft chuckle from Ephraim.

 

“Yep. Hell, I remember this one snowstorm, back when Eiri and I were kids—it was so bad we couldn’t even leave the house for, like, almost two whole days. Literally. There was so much snow that we couldn’t get any of the doors open.”

 

“Oh. Th-That sounds… kind of scary, honestly…”

 

“Eh, it wasn’t all that bad. I thought it was pretty exciting.”

 

Now it was Lyon’s turn to let out a little chuckle. “Of course _you’d_ think that,” he joked lightheartedly.

 

“Oh? And what’s that supposed to mean?” Ephraim joked right back, lightly ruffling the borrower’s lilac hair with one gloved thumb. Which soon had Lyon laughing even more.

 

“You know _exactly_ what I mean.”

 

Another round of laughs was shared between both of them, before Ephraim spoke again.

 

“Alright, alright, enough of that. Let’s see if this is the good kind of snow,” he stated, slowly shifting to get down on to his knees.

 

“What do you mean ‘the good kind of snow?’ There’s different kinds?” Lyon asked curiously.

 

“Yeah, sorta. Sometimes it’s too powdery, and it doesn’t pack real well,” Ephraim explained as he ran his hands along the ground and started scooping up little piles of snow. He tried packing it into a ball, and after unfurling his hands a bit, he was quite pleased with the results.

 

An almost perfectly round snowball now sat in his cupped hands.

 

“Yep, definitely the good stuff,” the teal-haired boy declared with a rather triumphant grin. “You wanna feel it?” he offered, transferring the snowball over to one hand and holding it ever-so-slightly closer to his chest.

 

Lyon stared for a moment, rather impressed by how moldable it was, before answering. “S-Sure.”

 

With his confirmation given, Ephraim brought it just close enough for the borrower to reach out and touch—which was exactly what Lyon did next.

 

Rather tentatively, he placed one hand on the ball of snow. He held it there for a few short moments, just long enough to get a good feel for it, before letting his hand retreat back into the warmth of Ephraim’s pocket.

 

The freezing cold stung at the skin of his palm and fingertips briefly, but that was quick to fade.

 

“I-It’s really soft!” Lyon marveled.

 

“It is, isn’t it? I’d love to lay in a big pile of it, if it weren’t so dang cold,” Ephraim remarked, setting the snowball down on the ground. “You still doing okay?” he checked, glancing down at the smaller boy.

 

Lyon nodded. “Mhmm.”

 

“We’ll have to see about getting Eirika to try and make you some winter clothes. Give you a chance to try this out for real, yeah?”

 

“M-Maybe… I don’t want to trouble her too much, though…”

 

“Nah, she’d love to, I’m sure,” Ephraim assured him. “Mostly she’d love it if all three of us got to have some proper fun out here.”

 

“I _am_ having fun, though. Right now,” Lyon remarked with a grin.

 

“Yeah, well, trust me, you’d be having _waaay_ more fun if you didn’t have to stay cooped up in my pocket,” the bean countered, matching Lyon’s grin with one of his own. “C’mon, I’ll show you how to make _the best_ snow fort ever.”

 

* * *

 

It took a little over half an hour for Ephraim to finish building “the best snow fort ever,” but once he was done, Lyon had to admit that it was certainly a rather impressive sight to behold.

 

Of course, the borrower didn’t have any other snow forts to compare Ephraim’s to, so he’d just have to take his word for it.

 

Seeing Ephraim move so much snow with so little effort was probably what impressed Lyon the most, though.

 

The fort he’d made was about the same size as their couch in the living room, and almost sort of U-shaped in design—although the opening was only just barely big enough for Ephraim to fit through. Something about getting the most amount of coverage, Ephraim had said.

 

To Lyon, it sure seemed like the bean was rather… invested in these “snowball fights” he’d been talking about while he was building the snow fort. Lyon didn’t really see the appeal in it, honestly. People lobbing clumps of snow at each other until one side gave up sounded just a little too… intense for him.

 

At least to participate in, anyway. He imagined he would have lots of fun simply watching the twins face off, like they had apparently done several times in the past.

 

But…

 

With all the time it had taken for Ephraim to finish, Lyon had to admit that the cold was definitely starting to get to him. And while there was a part of him that wanted to stay and enjoy the snow just a little while longer, the borrower knew it was important to heed Ephraim’s words from earlier.

 

Besides, there was always tomorrow.

 

“H-Hey, Ephraim? I, um… I think I’m r-ready to head back inside s-soon.”

 

“Oh, sure, that’s fine. You doin’ okay?”

 

“Y-Yeah. Just… st-starting to get a little t-too cold.”

 

“Alright, inside it is then,” Ephraim declared, smiling as he rose back up to his feet and brushed off the legs of his snowsuit.

 

Now that they were all done, and as Ephraim started making his way over to the back door, Lyon allowed himself to sink deeper into the pocket, wrapping himself up even tighter in his blankets.

 

By now, after all his time spent with the twins, he’d grown used to the feeling of each giant footstep, even as it practically shook him down to his very core, and the swaying motions had actually become rather comforting as well.  

 

As such, Lyon started zoning out, focusing on the sound of Ephraim’s heartbeat as he tried to stay warm.

 

That is, until he felt the bean come to a stop.

 

He waited, expecting to hear the sound of the door sliding open.

 

Instead, he was greeted with a gentle pressure as Ephraim very lightly pressed his hand against the outside of the pocket.

 

“E-Ephraim? Is s-something wrong?” the borrower called up, knowing that he needed to speak a bit louder if he wanted to be heard through all the fabric surrounding him.

 

“Lyon… You’re shivering.” As he spoke, Ephraim’s tone was brimming with concern.

 

A moment later, the pressure disappeared, only to be replaced by the hand actually snaking its way into the pocket as it closed around Lyon in a loose fist—now without a glove on.

 

“I-I’ll be f-fine once we get b-back inside,” the lilac-haired boy insisted, even as he pretty much desperately curled into the fingers that were now encasing him. Having Ephraim’s hand in there with him definitely helped a lot.

 

Much to his surprise, though, Ephraim actually started to lift him up—blankets and all—out into the open.

 

“E-Ephraim? Wh-What are y-you d-doing?”

 

“Helping,” was the only explanation that was offered, and just as Lyon was about to ask what he meant by that, the answer became readily apparent.

 

Ephraim’s other hand joined the first as he brought Lyon up towards his face. Thankfully, both hands served as a decent enough buffer against the cold air around the two of them.

 

As did the warm breath that washed over him as Ephraim exhaled.

 

But the bean didn’t stop there.

 

He leaned in closer and closer, until…

 

Until he gingerly pressed his lips against the side of Lyon’s head, leaving them there for quite a long while before slowly pulling back.

 

_Oh._

 

 _That_ was what Ephraim meant.

 

“Better?” he murmured almost teasingly, even though Lyon could clearly see the blush that twinged his cheeks with a pinkish hue. Nowhere near as deep and bright as the blush that lit up Lyon’s own face right now.

 

“B-Better.”

 

This time, his stammering had nothing to do with the cold.

 

“C’mon, let’s get you that hot chocolate,” Ephraim stated with a smile as he finally moved to open the door.

 

Honestly, though, Lyon wasn’t entirely sure if he even really _needed_ the hot chocolate anymore. Not with the warmth Ephraim had left coursing through the borrower’s entire body.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi my name's Hope and all I know how to write anymore is borrower AUs
> 
> This particular one shot is based on a roleplay I've been doing with a good friend of mine, and I decided to surprise her with some Pure and Wholesome Content™ :P 
> 
> It's also in honor of the new Winter Banner in Fire Emblem Heroes, which just so happens to feature both Eirika and Ephraim. Sacred Stones just so happens to be my favorite Fire Emblem game, so needless to say, I was pretty freakin' hyped when the twins both got winter alts.
> 
> also I may or may not have written this just last night  
> in one sitting >w>;;  
> so if anything feels rushed, or weird, or out of place, feel free to let me know!


End file.
